Fire alarm



Jan. 12, 1932. o. c. GILBERT ET AL 1,840,894

FIRE ALARM Filed March 51, 1951. 2 Sheets-Sheet l O.C.G1ll11eri J13.Arledqe Q ww a tlorney Fatented Jan. 12, 19 32 mm? E res FIRE ALARM iApplication filed March 31, 1931.. Serial No. 526,738.

This invention relates to an improved fire alarm in the nature of anaudible signal primarily designed for home or domestic usage andintended to givea dependable warning signal when a part of the premisesadjacent to the signal is on fire.

In carrying the inventive conception into practice, we have evolved andproduced a simple and economical appliance Which may be attached invarious places in a building, particularly adjacent the'chimn'ey orother point at which a fire would most likely start from a heatingsystemor the like.

One feature of the invention is founded on the use of a duplex ormultiple cartridge explosive device of a fusible character, which isinfluenced to operate and give a warning signal by flame or fireimpinging on either one or both of the cartridges, thereby giving a loudreport to notify the occupants of impending danger.

Another innovation of the invention is a novel attaching fixturedesigned to mount the explosive device in spaced parallelism to theadjacent supporting surface and equipped with inflammable elementssusceptible of bursting into fiame readily and to thereby induce moreeffective and ready explosion of the Warning cartridges.

'In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view of a portion of a building showing achimney and disclosing a plurality of the warning signals mounted atvital points. 7

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the complete alarm or signal.

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the structure seen in Figure 2withthe attaching fixture or bracket in section. I

Figure 4 is a longitudinal and large detail section on the line l4: ofFigure 2. s

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the exploded endportion of one of the cartridges.

Figure 6 is an end elevation of one of said cartridges. 2

Figure 7 is a cross section on the line 77 of Figure 3 with an explosivecharge removed.

Figure 8 is a plan view or a disc or. wafer ignition element. H'the'line 99 of Figure 9 is a section on Figure 8. e 1n the drawings, in

Figure 1, we have shown a number of the warnin si nals or alarms indistributed positions,thesebeing supported at vital points with theframe structure of the building and generally within the vicinity of thechimney ill. I It is obvious however that the mounting ofthese-devicesis a matter which lies within the discretion of the user.

We refer now to Figure 3, showing the general assembly wherein thereference char-' acter 11 designates'the supporting-surface, 12indicates the attaching fixture orbracket and 13' generally representsthe double act ing or duplex explosive cartridge device. This device 13is of fusible metal and in practice it has been found practical toutilize a copper tubing. A single lengthof copper tubing has beenfoundsatisfactory, this being indented and pressed into substantiallyflat formation as indicated at 14 to permit it to be attached by a bolt15 to the'central arched portion 16 of the bracket. 1

The bracket, incidentally, includes extend-j ing apertured attachingears 17 secured in place by wood screws or the like 18.

The portion of the tube extending on opposite sides of thebracket'constitute cartridges or containers for an explosive powder 19as shown in Figure 4. This. powder may be of any appropriate texture andis preferably of such character as to maintain its explosive propertiesfor an indefinite period of time and to overcomedeterioration.

The end portions of the tubular cartridges 7 20 are flattened asindicated at 21 to form closures, these closures being such as toinhibit the entrance of moisture or air and to effect dependable'maintenance of the explosive 1 powder 19. It might be added that inFigure 5, we have shown the manner in whichthe companion portions of theflattened aredisrupted when the charge is fired.

end I rial and is provided with a metallic bushing 23 for reinforcingand attaching purposes. The same screws 18 which are employed forattaching the brackets serve to attach these ignition wafers to the endportions 17 of the bracket.

In practice, it is obvious that the powder filled cartridges 20 of thedevice 13 are attached by way of the indenture 1 1 and the bolt 15 tothe crown portion of the arch 16 of the bracket 12, as shown in Figure3, thus disposing the device 13 in spaced parallelism to the supportingsurface 11.

The bracket is attached in place by the end portions 17 and the highlyinflammable ignition washers or wafers 22 are secured by the screws 18.If a fire originates within the vicinity of the device 13, it is obviousthat the highly inflammable nature of the elements will cause these tobe set on fire, permitting the flanges therefrom as well as surroundingfianies to impinge on the powder filled cartridges 20.

This will produce an explosion of one or both of the cartridges, thusgiving a loud audible report which will serve as a warning to theoccupants of the premises that danger is impending in an obvious manner.it is believed therefore, that a device of this kind is 1 a novelcontribution to the prior art, susceptible of sensitive operation andcapable of fulfilling the requirements ofan appliance of this kind in ahighly practical and satisfactory manner.

It is thought that the description taken in connection with the drawingswill enable a clear understanding of the invention to be had. Therefore,a more lengthy description is thought unnecessary. 7

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed, it is to be understood that minor changes coming within thefield of invention claimed may be resorted to in actual practice ifdesired without departing from the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims.

We claim:

1. As a new product of manufacture, an explosive warning signal of theclass de scribed comprising a length of copper tubing having its centralportion depressed and flattened to form an attaching element, having itsend portions fiat-toned to provide closures and intervening cylindricalcontainers, said containers being charged with an explosive.

2. As a new product of manufacture, an explosive warning signal of theclass described comprising a length of copper tub ing having its centralportion depressed and flattened to form an attaching element, having itsend portion flattened to provide closures and intervening cylindricalcontainers, said containers being ch ed with an ex- "2: plosive, andanattaching bracket lncludlng a central arched portion to which theattaching portionof said tube is fastened.

In a structure of the class described, an attaching bracket including acentral arched portion and oppositely projecting apertured ttachingportions, an inflammable wafer ignition element carried by eachattaching portion.

at. In a structure of the class described, an attaching bracketincluding a central arched portion and oppositely projecting aperturedattaching portions, an inflammable wafer ignition element carried byeach attaching portures.

OCTAVOUS C. GILBERT. JOHN L. ARLEDGE.

